Anti-ballooning devices



Dec. 25, 1962 w. H PORTER ANTI-BALLOONING DEVICES Filed Feb. 15, 1961Inventor A. W H. Porfer By 64M fiflameys United States Patent 3,070,325ANTI-BALLOONING DEVICES Allan William Henry Porter, Burton-on-Trent,Staffordshire, England, assignor to Hobourn-F.N.F. Limited Filed Feb.13, 1961, Ser. No. 88,743 Claims priority, a plication Great BritainFeb. 19, 1960 Claims. (Cl. 242128) When yarns are drawn axially oif theend of yarn packages or bobbins, for example when drawing yarns from acreel for warping, balloons are formed. The size of the balloons dependson the speed of draw-off but if it becomes too big the balloons mayinterfere with each other.

The purpose of the present invention is to restrain the formation ofballoons in this way.

According to the present invention an anti-balloon device for attachmentto the end of a yarn package or bobbin comprises a circular body havingfour axially tapering sections, arranged end to end and decreasing, inorder, in length and in mean diameter, the outer sections having theirlarger ends outermost and the inner sections having larger ends of thesame diameter joining each other and smaller ends equal in diameter toand joining the smaller ends of the outer sections so that the body hasa continuous undulating surface, and a ring surrounding the junctionbetween the smaller ends of the two smaller sections, the dimensions ofthe four sections of the body being such that as a thread is drawn in acoiled path over the surface of the body, in passing over the largestsection the circumferential component of the velocity of the thread isless than its axial velocity, in its movement over the second sectionits circumferential component is greater than its axial component and inits movement over the fourth and last section its circumferentialcomponent is again less than its axial component, the axial component ofthe velocity of the thread over the last section being greater than theaxial component of the velocity over either of the first two sections.

Preferably the sections of the body are all frustoconical in shape. Thering should be a close fit around the body but it should be free torotate. on the body when the thread is drawn off through it. For usewith some yarns particularly natural fibres and high-twist rayon thering is preferably made of a soft resilient fibrous material such asfelt. For use with most other synthetic yarns a ceramic or metal ring isbetter. In use the larger end of the circular body is attached coaxiallyto the end of the yarn package or bob-bin and the yarn is drawn oifaxially over the surface of the body. The

yarn is threaded between the ring and the part of the circular bodywhich it surrounds and it then passes through an outlet eyelet which isarranged on the axis of the yarn package or bobbin a short distance awayfrom the smaller end of the body.

As the yarn is drawn through the eyelet it automatically takes up aposition in which it makes approximately one and a half turns around thecircular body. These turns are opened out from each other in the form ofa helix so that the yarn lies along the surface of all four conicalportions of the body at an inclination to its axis. The ring isnecessary to hold the yarn against the body in the place where the yarnpasses through the ring, otherwise the yarn will not maintain contactwith the body near its smaller end.

As the yarn is drawn over the surface of the body it has two componentsof velocity, one circumferential and one axial, over thesurface of eachof the conical portions. Although the resultant velocity must of coursebe constant these components vary over the various portions of the bodyin dependence upon the angle of in- 3,070,325 Patented Dec. 25, 1962clination of the thread to the axis of the body. The thread isrestrained by its frictional contact with the surface of the body and inthis way is prevented from ballooning. A frictional drag is also exertedon the thread by its contact with the surface of the body and thisprovides the necessary back tension on the thread as it is drawn offfrom the package or bobbin. This is a further considerable advantage ofthe device because it makes the usual form of tensioning device, whichconsists of two platespressed together by a spring and between which theyarn passes, unnecessary.

An example, and a modification of this example, of a device inaccordance with the invention mounted in position on the end of a yarnpackage on a creel is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of the device and its mounting with theyarn package shown diagrammatically;

FIGURE 2 is a similar side elevation of the device by itself without thering shown to a larger scale; and

FEGURE 3 is a sectional detail showing a modification of smaller end ofthe body.

As shown in FIGURE -1 the angle sections 1 and 2 shown in chain dottedlines form part of the frame of a creel and emit a very large number ofyarn packages are mounted from which threads may be drawn for winding onto a warp beam or for other purposes.

5 A circular rod 3 passes through holes in the two angle sections 1 and2 and over its free end the tube 4 of a yarn package 5 is placed. Theyarn package 5 is held in position against the angle section 1 by ananti-ballooning device 6 which is screwed on to a thread 7 on the end ofthe rod 3. The anti-ballooning device 6 has a body consisting of fourtruncated conical sections 8, 9, ill and 11. These four sections aremade as a single die casting.

In this particular example the dimensions a to k of the various sections8 to 11 of the device, as shown in FIG- URE 2 of the drawings, are asfollows.

Inches q 1162 b 1 /32 0 d e lie 1 /8 g h 1 i 1 1' %6 k A felt washer 12surrounds the neck at the junction between the sections 10 and 11 of thedevice. The diameter of the hole in the washer 12 is only slightlygreater than 2 so that it is a snug fit. Because of the elasticity ofthe felt, the washer 12 can be placed in position by pushing it over thesection 11. In use the yarn 13 from the package 5 is passed through thecentral hole in the washer 12 and thence through an eye 14 which isfixed to the frame of the creel so that its centre lies on the" extendedaxis of the package 5. When the yarn 13 is drawn through the eye 14 itautomatically takes up a position as shown in FIGURE 1 in which it makesapproximately one and a half full turns around the device 6...Slightlyless-than one half of a full turn takes place 5 over each ofthe sections 8 to 10 and approximately a third of. a full tur'n takesplace over the section 11. As'

theyarn 13 is withdrawn through the eye 14, whenfor example it iswoundonto a warp beam, the yarn is dragged overthe surface of the device 6and (the path which it travels over this device rotates around it.

The velocity of the yarn 13 must of course be constant I along itslength since it is not stretched; but, the c0mpo-= nents of its velocityin a circumferential direction around the device 6 and in an axialdirection parallel to the axis of the yarn package 5, vary over each ofthe sections 8 to 11.

In passing over the section 8, as shown in FIGURE 1 of the drawings, theyarn has a circumferential component of velocity C1 and an axialcomponent A1. In passing over the section 9 these components are C2 andA2 respectively and in passing over the section 11 these components areC4 and A4. With the dimensions shown in the drawings these velocitycomponents bear the following relationship to each other. C1 is lessthan A1, C2 is greater than A2 and C4 is less than A4, but A4 is greaterthan A1 or A2. When these ratios apply the yarn remains over its wholepath in contact with the various sections of the device 6 and has notendency to be drawn outwards to form a balloon.

The exact dimensions of the device 6 will of course depend upon the sizeof the yarn package with which it is to be used, but the proportionsshown in the drawings should preferably be maintained. All that isessential, however, is that the proportions should be such that thevelocity ratios just given are obtained.

In the modification shown in FIGURE 3 the felt washer 12 is replaced bya ring 15 made of ceramic material. Because this material is not elasticas is felt it cannot be placed in position over the end of the section11. Therefore as shown the section 11 is made separately from thesection 10' and the two sections are detachably fixed together by a bolt16 which passes through a bore 17 in the section 11 and is screwed intoa tapped bore 18 in the section 10.

Besides preventing the formation of a balloon and providing a backtension on the yarn the device in accordance with the invention has alsothe following advantages.

It is self-cleaning insofar as there is no surface for the collection ofdirt, dust or lint, due to the self-wiping action of the yarn passingover the surface of the body. This is a great improvement over the usualtype of tensioning device already described in which lint or dust anddirt tend to collect very rapidly between the two spring-pressed plates.Further the device does not therefore tend to cause the yarn to untwistor cause any broken filaments in the yarn to run back as the yarn isdrawn off. When the yarn is drawn off at very high speeds of the orderof 250 yards per minute and there is deceleration of draw-off, thedevice restricts any tendency for turns of the yarn to slough off thepackage or bobbin. This tendency is prevented because the momentum ofthe thread passing over the surface of the body is immediately absorbedby the frictional drag on the body, whereas in previous cases wherethere is a free balloon, this momentum is not absorbed and does tend tounwind extra turns. This advantage is of great importance withhigh-twist yarns which because of their twist are known to be lively.That is to say, they are very prone to twist and throwback uponthemselves and so become entangled with themselves or with adjacentyarns if the rate of draw-off is suddenly altered.

I claim:

1. In apparatus for drawing a thread from a package during warping andother thread winding operations, said apparatus including a support forsaid package and means for drawing said thread off said package in anaxial direction, the improvement which consists of a device for reducingthe ballooning of said thread as it is drawn off, said device comprisinga circular body cw axially attached to the end of said yarn package andhaving two outer and two inner axially tapering sections having largerand smaller ends, said sections being arranged end to end andsuccessively decreasing in length and in mean diameter in a directionaway from said yarn package, said two outer sections having their largerends outermost and said two inner sections having their larger ends ofthe same diameter and joining each other, the

adjacent smaller ends of each pair of adjacent inner and outer sectionsbeing of the same diameter and joining each other, so that the surfaceof said body is continuous and undulating in an axial direction, saiddevice also comprising a ring for holding said thread against said body,said ring surrounding the junction between the smaller ends of the twosmaller sections, the axial and transverse dimensions of each of saidfour sections being so related that as a thread is drawn off said yarnpackage in a coiled path over said surface of said body, in passing overthe first and largest of said sections the circumferential component ofthe velocity of the thread is less than the axial component of saidvelocity, in its movement over the second of said sections thecircumferential component is greater than the axial component and in itsmovement over the fourth and smallest of said sections thecircumferential component is again less than the axial component, saidaxial component of the velocity of the thread over said smallest sectionbeing greater than said axial component of the velocity over either ofsaid first two sections.

2. A device according to claim 1, in which each of said sections isfrusto-conical in shape.

3. A device according to claim 2, in which said relative dimensions ofsaid four sections are such that if the axial length of said smallest,fourth frusto-conical section is designated c and the diameter of itssmaller end is a; then the larger end diameter of this section issubstantially 1.2a, said third section has a length of substantially1.30, a smaller end diameter of d and a larger end diameter ofsubstantially 2.25:1, said second section has a length of substantially2c, a larger end diameter of substantially 2.2511 and a smaller enddiameter of substantially 1.9d and said first and largest section has alength of substantially 3.60, a smaller end diameter substantially 1.9dand a larger end diameter of substantially 4d.

4. In apparatus for drawing a thread from a package during warping andother thread winding operations, said apparatus including a support forsaid package and means for drawing said thread off said package in anaxial direction, the improvement which consists of a device for reducingthe ballooning of said thread as it is drawn off, said device comprisinga circular body coaxially attached to the end of said yarn package and aring encircling said body to hold said thread thereagainst, said bodybeing formed of a plurality of sections successively decreasing inlength and in mean diameter in a direction away from said yarn package,alternate sections having gradually increasing diameters whereas theremaining sections have gradually decreasing diameters, the adjacentends of each pair of adjoining sections being of the same diameter, theaxial and transverse dimensions of each of said sections being sorelated that as a thread is drawn off said yarn package in a coiled pathover the surface of said body, in passing over the largest section ofdecreasing diameter the axial component of the velocity of the thread isgreater than its circumferential component, whereas in passing over thenext largest section the axial component is less than thecircumferential component, and in passing over the smallest section ofincreasing diameter the axial component is again greater than thecircumferential component over said last mentioned section and alsogreater than the axial component over either said largest section ofdecreasing diameter or said next largest section, the junction betweenthe smallest section of increasing diameter and the next smallestsection being closely encircled by said ring.

5. In apparatus for drawing a thread from a package during warping andother thread winding operations, said apparatus including a support forsaid package and means for drawing said thread off said package in anaxial direction, the improvement which consists of a device for reducingthe ballooning of said thread as it is drawn off, said device comprisinga circular body coaxially attached to the end of said yarn package and aring encircling said 5 body to hold said thread thereagainst, said bodybeing formed of a plurality of sections successively decreasing inlength and in mean diameter in a direction away from said yarn package,alternate sections having gradually increasing, diameters whereas theremaining sections have gradually decreasing diameters, the adjacentends of each pair of adjoining sections being of the same diameter, theaxial and transverse dimensions of each of said sections being sorelated that as a thread is drawn 01f said yarn package in a coiled pathover the surface of said body, the axial component of the velocity ofsaid thread becomes successively greater, smaller, and then greater thanthe circumferential component of said velocity, said axial componentbecoming greatest at a point near the end of said body remote from saidpackage, and the junction between at least one section of decreasingdiameter and a smaller section of increasing diameter being closelyencircled by said ring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSNau-Touron Aug. 14, 1956 2,798,681 Beverino July 9, 1957

